Process and a device for butt jointing and assembling panels of a building

ABSTRACT

Four frame members with rectangular sections are assembled in a quadrilateral frame and plywood sheets are attached to the face and back sides to make a panel. These panels will constitute floors, walls, ceiling, etc. of a building. A joining board with a series of concave and convex portions is attached to the side edge of the panel. One panel provided with said joining board and another panel provided with a corresponding joining board can be butt jointed and assembled by fitting the convex portions of one panel into the concave portions of another panel and by adhering the convex portions of one panel to the surface of another panel.

United States Patent Kobori 1 July 1, 1975 {54] PROCESS AND A DEVICE FOR BUTT l,002.859 9/!911 McFarlane 52/285 JOINTING AND ASSEMBLING PANELS OF 1134.736 4/1915 A BUILDING l.648,59l l l/I927 2.057.942 10/1936 [76] Inventor: Rinei Kobori, 13-2 Takakura-cho, ,591, 7/1971 Nishinomiya' Japan FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] Filed: Sept. 11, 1973 7,432 3 1911 United Kingdom a. 52/731 pp NO 396 309 290,490 5/l928 United Kingdom 52/234 Related [15. Application Data Primary ExaminerFrank L. Abbott [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 159,832. July 6. Asslsmm Examiner-James Rldgm 197]. abandcned Attorney, Agent. or firm-Wenderoth, Lmd & Ponack [30] Foreign Application Priority Data STR CT J l 24' 1970 Japan n 4565289 Four frame members with rectangular sections are assembled in a quadrilateral frame and plywood sheets [52 U5, (3 52 270; 52 235; 5 7 are attached to the face and back sides to make a 403 3 4; 52 745 panel. These panels will constitute floors, walls. ceil- 511 1111. c1 E04b 1/56; E04b 2/32 s of a building- A joining board with a series of [58] Fi |d of S h 4()3/ 7 76 217 354; concave and convex portions is attached to the side 52/236. 270. 281, 285. 479, 481, 234. edge of the panel. One panel provided with said join- 73 732 753 D 753 T 74 745 2 0 ing board and another panel provided with a corresponding joining board can be butt jointed and assem- 5 References m bled by fitting the convex portions of one panel into UNITED STATES PATENTS the concave portions of another panel and by adhering the convex portions of one panel to the surface of an- 282,483 8/1883 Baker 220/4 F other and 695,677 3/1902 Faris U 52/754 p 979.643 l2/l9l0 Burson 52/354 7 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures HUFNTW W 1 SHEET PROCESS AND A DEVICE FOR BUTT JOIN'IING AND ASSEMBLING PANELS OF A BUILDING This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 159,832, filed July 6, I971 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a process and device for butt jointing and assembling panels of a building such as a house. Panels with the device in accordance with this invention can be easily butt jointed at right angles to each other and assembled to be made into walls, floors or ceilings.

An important object of this invention is to provide a simplified method of assembling panels.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of assembling panels at a faster rate.

A further object is to provide standarization of each component member of various building materials.

A still further object is to provide a novel mass production method for each building material component member at a plant.

A fifth object is to provide a method which reduces over-all cost in the construction of a building.

In the construction of a building and in particular a wooden house, the framework so far has been made as one pleases in each particular case at the building site. Boards and other materials have been used with the framework to make them into walls, floors, ceilings and the like. In making a butt joint of these flat boards at right angles to each other at a corner, a supervisor makes a plan which he thinks is best suitable for each particular building site, and lets skilled workers do the work in compliance with the plan under his direction and control. The manner of making such a butt joint is time consuming and is different in each particular case. It is far from standardized. Furthermore, even skilled workers find it very difficult to make a satisfactory butt joint. It may be said that these are the main reasons why the construction of a building requres longer hours at higher costs. In addition, there are many places where flat boards must be butt jointed in a building.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The novel method in accordance with this invention removes these defects. Flat boards for butt jointing, which play a leading roll in the construction of a building, are so standardized that they can be produced on a large scale production basis at a plant. What is needed at a building site is merely to assemble these flat boards to form a satisfactory butt joint portion.

In accordance with the method of this invention, the butt jointing of flat boards, which has been so far considered as most difficult work to do, can be effected without requiring any skilled workers at the building site. This will bring about reduction in labor forces, simplification of construction, shorter construction hours, and reduction in cost. At such a time as the present when construction of houses is urgently required, this invention will contribute greatly to the building industry.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a plan view ofa joining board or a joining plate. l shows a joining board made of wood, and II is a joining plate made of iron.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of essential parts of two panels which are butt jointed together at right angles to each other by means of two joining boards;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of four panels butt jointed together at right angles to one another by means of four horizontal joining boards;

FIG. 4 is a plan view ofa material board showing how it is cut when joining boards are being manufactured;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a building panel;

FIG. 6 is an end view of a joining board;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a joining board;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the same;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of fourjoining boards fitted together in the shape of a long hollow square body which is used to butt join panels;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the essential parts of a joint when the end portions of several panels are inserted into the projections of four joining boards assembled as shown in FIG. 9, and

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view of several panels assembled vertically so as to form walls.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, numeral 1 generally designates a panel wherein four long rectangular beams 7' having rectangular cross-sections are assembled in a rectangular frame with plywood sheets 7 attached to their face and back sides. Numeral 2 or 2' is a joining board having sunken or concave parts 3 and raised or convex parts 4 placed alternatively on each side edge thereof. The distance a between the bases of two facing sunken parts 3 (FIG. 1) is equal to the thickness b" of the panel 1 (FIG. 5). Furthermore, the raised parts 4 and the sunken parts 3 are formed at the same pitch. In other words, the length of each raised part 4 is equal to the length of each sunken part 3.

There are two different orders in which the above materials can be assembled. The first of these will now be described. Each of four panels la, lb, 10 and 1d is provided with a joining board 2 or 2' which are produced on a standardized production basis. Each joining board is attached by nailing the same to the edge of a panel. The raised part 4 of a joining board 2 is then inserted at right angles into the sunken pan 3 of its adjoining board 2. In this case, the raised parts 4 have their top portions 40, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, 4f, 4g and 4h projecting beyond the inserted portions as seen in FIG. 3. The distance between the inner surface of projecting portion 4a and that of projecting portion 4b is equal to the distance a between the bases of two facing sunken parts 3. The thickness b of la, shown in FIG. 3 is also equal to the distance a. Thus, the end portion of the panel la is intimately inserted into the space between the projecting portions 4a and 4b (FIG. 3). Here the contacting surfaces are adhered by an adhesive 8, and the end portion side of the panel la and projecting portions 4a and 4b are further secured by nails.

In a similar way, the panels lb, 1c and Id are also provided extending outwardly. Thus, the panels In, lb, 1c, and Id are provided extending outwardly in all directions with a long square hollow body formed by four joining boards, as their center. These joining boards form four wall surfaces and a hollow center 12.

The second order in which the above materials are assembled is as follows: As in the first method, joining boards 2 and 2' made by a standardized production at a factory are carried to a building site. The raised part 4 of a joining board 2 is inserted into the sunken part of its adjoining joining board 2 in a direction at right angles to each other to form a long square hollow body such as shown in FIG. 9. Then, the end portion of the panel la is inserted into the space between the projecting portions 4a and 4b; the end portion of the panel lb between 40 and 4d; the end portion of the panel lc, between 4e and 4f; and the end portion of the panel ld, between 4g and 4h. The surfaces of the end portions of the plywood boards 7 of the panels are firmly adhered to the inner surfaces of projecting portions 4a-4e by means of an adhesive 8 and are nailed together by means of nails 9.

As shown in FIG. 3, the four panels are butted together radially and intersect at right angles. In such a way, the four panels la, lb, 1c and 1d can be easily assembled as four walls. For example, as shown in FIG. ll the panels la and lb form two walls adjoining each other in a room A; the panels lb and 1c form two walls in a room B next to the room A; the panels 1c and 1d form two walls in room C; and the panels 1d and la form two walls in a room D next to either room c or room A. The other end of the panel la and the other end of the panel lb are each provided with a set of joining boards 2b and 2d respectively. A panel 1e and a panel 1 f are connected to the joining boards 2b and 2d respectively. The other end of the panel 1e and that of the panel if are connected with a joining board 2c. By so doing the other two walls of the room A are formed (see FIG. 11).

It is obvious from the above that the practice of this invention requires no difficult technical operations. What is required is just for one to assemble standardized materials work which can be easily done even by unskilled carpenters. Thus, the corner work, which would otherwise be a difficult operation, can be done easily and rapidly.

In the above examples, panels are assembled together at butt joint portions which are vertical. It is quite easy, however, to obtain an assembled ceiling, floor and walls by assembling and joining together a panel which is to form a horizontal floor, a panel which is to form a vertical wall, one which is to form a horizontal ceiling and another panel which is to form a second vertical wall by means of joining boards in the same manner as described hereinabove. Thus, the construction of a hexahedral body can be easily obtained.

In accordance with the invention, when making joining boards 2 and 2', the sunken part 3 and the raised part 4 are alternatively made at the same pitch. When fitting the raised parts 4 into the sunken parts 3, they can be fitted without the necessity of being selected. Furthermore, the fitted portions of the two joining boards press against each other at contact portions to create some stress at these points. This stress strengthens the assembly of the butt joint portions which intersect at right angles.

The first method mentioned above that is, where joining boards 2 and 2' are first attached to the end portions 7a of panels 1 and these end portions 7a and the joining boards 2 and 2' are securely held together by means of nails. But this method has an operational disadvantage in that large panels then have to be fitted in and assembled.

The second method that is where four joining boards are first assembled in the shape of a long square hollow body, and then the end portions of panels 1 are fitted in and firmly secured between projecting portions 4a-4h has a disadvantage in that the end portions 7a of panels 1 and their respective joining board 2 or 2' are fixed together only by means of an adhesive 5. But this second method has an advantage in that it requires no handling of large panels at the beginning and its operation is quite easy. Obviously construction workers may choose either method they like.

In manufacturing joining boards to be used for this invention, a flat board such as a broad plywood board is pressed and cut with a side tool along a line 11 as shown in FIG. 4. Since the sunken or concave parts 3 and the raised or convex parts 4 are of the same pitch, the flat board can be made into joining boards quite easily with practically no loss of material. Indeed, these joining boards can be produced as a standard product on a large scale basis. Then, what is needed at the building site is merely to assemble the joining boards 2 and 2 so produced and adhere them to the edge portions of the panels.

In order to make joining boards out of iron plate as shown in FIG. 1-" the plate is first cut into rectangular or square plates 2". Then, these plates are placed on the side edge of the panel 1 with a distance between two adjoining plates equal to the length of each plate. The plates 2" are then nailed to the frame members 7' with nails 6 as shown in FIG. 1-". Those parts of the plates projecting from the edge side of the panel 1 constitute the convex or raised portions 4. The space between two adjoining iron plates forms the concave or sunken portions 3. Thus, the iron joining board can be used in the same manner as the wood joining board.

When it is required to make a strong floor in accordance with this invention, a reinforcing material can be used in the square space 12 created by the butt joint of the edge sides of the panels and in the space 12' between the top and bottom floor forming boards 7, (see FIG. 3). If assembled convex and concave portions of panel boards 1 are exposed at a portion where, for example, a floor and a wall intersect at right angles to each other, this tends to injure their appearance. It is, therefore, possible to use additional material for the wall or the floor to cover such exposure so as to maintain a good appearance.

What I claim is: l. A method of butt jointing and assembling building panels of a building, said method comprising:

providing a plurality of elongated joining boards each of which has a length equal to the length of a side edge of one of said panels, each of said boards having two parallel rows of alternating sunken and raised portions one row on each side edge thereof, said portions each having the same pitch and the distance between the sunken portion in one row and the corresponding sunken portion in the other parallel row being equal to the thickness of said panels; firmly securing one joining board to the side edge of each building panel to be butt jointed, along the entire length of said side edge, so that said raised portions protrude from each face of the panel;

arranging said panels at right angles to each other and inserting each raised portion of one joining board into the corresponding sunken portion of an adjoining joining board; and

firmly securing said raised portions to the faces of adjoining of said panels.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of filling the hollow spaces between the assembled panels with reinforcing material.

3. A method of butt jointing and assembling a plurality of building panels in the constructions ofa building, said method comprising:

providing four joining boards each of which has a length equal to the length of a side edge of one of said panels, each of said boards having two parallel rows of alternating sunken and raised portions, one row on each side thereof, said portions having the same pitch and the distance between the sunken portion in one row and the corresponding sunken portion in the other parallel row being equal to the thickness of said panels;

positioning two of said joining boards having the same shape face to face in parallel to each other;

positioning the remaining two joining boards face to face and at right angles to said first two boards and positioning the raised portions of one board in the adjoining sunken portions of the next board;

positioning at least one building panel between each two rows of protruding raised portions which are projecting in the same direction with the entire length of the side edge of each thus positioned panel in contact with a respective of said boards; and

firmly securing said protruding raised portions to the faces of each said thus positioned respective panel.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further including the step of filling the hollow spaces between the assembled panels with reinforcing material.

5. A butt jointing assembly for joining a plurality of building panels at right angles to each other in the construction of a building, said assembly comprising:

four joining boards, each of said boards having a length equal to the length of the side edge of a panel to be joined, each of said boards having two parallel rows of alternating sunken and raised portions, one row on each side thereof, said portions having the same pitch, the distance between the sunken portion in one row and the corresponding sunken portion in the other parallel row being equal to the thickness of panels to be joined, and the height of each raised portion being substantially greater than the thickness of said boards;

two of said joining boards having the same shape and being positioned face to face in parallel to each other;

the remaining two joining boards being positioned face to face and at right angles to said first two boards;

said remaining two boards having their sunken and raised portions arranged so that said portions intersect at right angles with the first two boards;

the raised portions of one board being positioned in adjoining sunken portions of the next board, thereby forming four pairs of parallel rows of projecting raised portions;

at least one building panel positioned between each of said pairs of rows of projecting raised portions with the entire length of the side edge of each thus positioned panel in contact with a respective of said boards; and

said projecting raised portions being firmly secured to the faces of each said thus positioned respective building panel.

6. The assembly as claimed in claim 5, further comprising reinforcing means within the spaces between said boards.

7. The assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of said panels is firmly secured at said side edge thereof, along the entire length thereof, to the said board with which said side edge is in contact. 

1. A method of butt jointing and assembling building panels of a building, said method comprising: providing a plurality of elongated joining boards each of which has a length equal to the length of a side edge of one of said panels, each of said boards having two parallel rows of alternating sunken and raised portions one row on each side edge thereof, said portions each having the same pitch and the distance between the sunken portion in one row and the corresponding sunken portion in the other parallel row being equal to the thickness of said panels; firmly securing one joining board to the side edge of each building panel to be butt jointed, along the entire length of said side edge, so that said raised portions protrude from each face of the panel; arranging said panels at right angles to each other and inserting each raised portion of one joining board into the corresponding sunken portion of an adjoining joining board; and firmly securing said raised portions to the faces of adjoining of said panels.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of filling the hollow spaces between the assembled panels with reinforcing material.
 3. A method of butt jointing and assembling a plurality of building panels in the constructions of a building, said method comprising: providing four joining boards each of which has a length equal to the length of a side edge of one of said panels, each of said boards having two parallel rows of alternating sunken and raised portions, one Row on each side thereof, said portions having the same pitch and the distance between the sunken portion in one row and the corresponding sunken portion in the other parallel row being equal to the thickness of said panels; positioning two of said joining boards having the same shape face to face in parallel to each other; positioning the remaining two joining boards face to face and at right angles to said first two boards and positioning the raised portions of one board in the adjoining sunken portions of the next board; positioning at least one building panel between each two rows of protruding raised portions which are projecting in the same direction with the entire length of the side edge of each thus positioned panel in contact with a respective of said boards; and firmly securing said protruding raised portions to the faces of each said thus positioned respective panel.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further including the step of filling the hollow spaces between the assembled panels with reinforcing material.
 5. A butt jointing assembly for joining a plurality of building panels at right angles to each other in the construction of a building, said assembly comprising: four joining boards, each of said boards having a length equal to the length of the side edge of a panel to be joined, each of said boards having two parallel rows of alternating sunken and raised portions, one row on each side thereof, said portions having the same pitch, the distance between the sunken portion in one row and the corresponding sunken portion in the other parallel row being equal to the thickness of panels to be joined, and the height of each raised portion being substantially greater than the thickness of said boards; two of said joining boards having the same shape and being positioned face to face in parallel to each other; the remaining two joining boards being positioned face to face and at right angles to said first two boards; said remaining two boards having their sunken and raised portions arranged so that said portions intersect at right angles with the first two boards; the raised portions of one board being positioned in adjoining sunken portions of the next board, thereby forming four pairs of parallel rows of projecting raised portions; at least one building panel positioned between each of said pairs of rows of projecting raised portions with the entire length of the side edge of each thus positioned panel in contact with a respective of said boards; and said projecting raised portions being firmly secured to the faces of each said thus positioned respective building panel.
 6. The assembly as claimed in claim 5, further comprising reinforcing means within the spaces between said boards.
 7. The assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of said panels is firmly secured at said side edge thereof, along the entire length thereof, to the said board with which said side edge is in contact. 